Zach Lowe

In another example of how dramatically the NBA is embracing the gambling industry, the Dallas Mavericks are hiring former professional sports gambler Bob Voulgaris as director of quantitative research and development, league sources told ESPN.

For years, Voulgaris made a living betting on NBA games, successfully wagering based on his research and information. Voulgaris is known for his deep analytics and expertise on coaching strategy and tendencies of individual referees.

Voulgaris created a popular NBA Twitter following where he regularly dispensed basketball information, opinions and data.

In part, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is expected to utilize Voulgaris as a strategic thinker who will help examine on-court strategy in big-picture ways.

The state-by-state legalization of sports gambling has inspired the NBA and teams to better harness information and betting expertise to create revenue, and advance the gathering of information.